Competitive Labour: Divisions between Zambian and Zimbabwean Workers

Abstract

By the late nineteenth century, Victoria Falls was a popular travel destination for Europeans, South Africans, and Americans who hoped to find adventure amidst what they deemed a wild physical and cultural landscape. Although a tourism industry was first established on the northern side of the Zambezi (Zambia), the southern side of the Falls (Zimbabwe) quickly joined in commercial development. Victoria Falls is now one of the most visited sites in Africa, and labour patterns around this site continue to be strongly influenced by developments in the tourism industry. Because the waterfalls served as a natural border between Northern and Southern Rhodesia, the colonial policies and development strategies on either side led to different commercial activities. The imbalanced nature of the development of tourism at this border continues to affect the working lives of local populations today. The Zimbabwean side of the border dominated the tourist market for decades, and Zambians living...